Schauffele in hunt despite mediocre round

It looked like Xander Schauffele had figured something out Friday at Augusta National after he shot 65, his first Masters round under 70.

But his Masters education continued Saturday as a disappointing incoming nine led to a round of 70 at Augusta National. The 25-year-old bogeyed Nos. 15 and 18 to shoot 37 on the back, after a nice start with four birdies on his opening nine.

He is in a tie for seventh at 8-under par, five shots behind leader Francesco Molinari.

"It’s the worst golf I could have played today. I did a lot of things well, but had too many hiccups coming in," said Schauffele, who has two wins in 2019 and four in his 67 career PGA starts. "I missed a bunch of putts. It was kind of a long Saturday for me."

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On the par-5 eighth, Schauffele hit a 5-wood from 268 yards to 10 feet but missed his eagle putt.

"I told my caddie I wanted some crystal, but it was just a misread," said Schauffele, who is ranked No. 10 in the world. "I will definitely take all the misses today into the future. I'm learning a little more about the greens and the breaks."

He had a nice read on the par-3 6th hole, where he drained a birdie putt from 12 feet above the hole. He also caught a nice break on the par-5 13th as his tee shot kicked off a tree on the right side of the fairway back into the short grass. He launched his approach over the back of the green and made an impressive up and down for birdie.

But his 6-iron approach on his second shot on No. 15 rolled back into the pond in front of the green, and he made bogey. On No. 18, trouble left off the tee forced him to punch out, leading to another bogey.

Schauffele said his chances to win would be slim if Molinari finished strong, but the Italian parred the last four holes, leaving the former San Diego State star five shots back.

"I feel like I’m playing really well, but I just didn’t score well," Schauffele said. "So there’s good golf coming, whether it happens tomorrow, in a few weeks or in a month – I’m going to do something nice here soon."